Lyrics Only song files Request

Damir

Hi Peter, I wrote a speech and created a Lyrics Only file but to my surprise if I use a double tap on this file it does not open the file , which is a great pity as it forces me to select it than hit play, why doesn’t it behave the same way a normal stereo track behaves, it makes sense to keep the same behaviour no matter what type of file it is, a double tap should work the same for all song types.
I am using iPhone 11 Pro Max portrait mode.

peter

What exactly do you mean by "open"? A double tap on a song will start playback. This does work for lyrics only songs that have a duration. Without a duration a lyrics only song can not be played back. So not sure why anything should happen on a double tap.

Damir

peter What exactly do you mean by "open"? A double tap on a song will start playback. This does work for lyrics only songs that have a duration. Without a duration a lyrics only song can not be played back. So not sure why anything should happen on a double tap.

If you have text only with no time requirement, like I have a speech need, I expect to be able to double tap on my speech file and get the lyrics window pop up to show me the text.
At the moment you can’t do that so all I am wanting is the same behaviour with that requirement it makes sense to be able to do that for using ST3 as a speech provider device or a simple auto cue.
There are other things I will point out in another thread that are to do with iPhone users only, which virtually most of us have and use so improving things for iPhone is very important.

DickyDutch

I agree with Damir - lyrics only songs without a duration should still open by hitting play like any other type of song.

peter

Opening lyrics when pressing play is a setting you need to activate. Not everyone uses it. I would be fine with opening lyrics view when you have enabled that setting on a double tap. But as there is no play button, I don't see how anyone could hit play.

Damir

peter Opening lyrics when pressing play is a setting you need to activate. Not everyone uses it. I would be fine with opening lyrics view when you have enabled that setting on a double tap. But as there is no play button, I don't see how anyone could hit play.

I am talking about a double tap on a lyrics only song opens the lyrics window , that’s all, it makes more sense cause there is no reason to hit anything else as it’s only a text file display I am interested in , why am I needing to open the lyrics window it is obvious by a double Tapp I need the lyrics immediately this is a very obvious need when using iPhones in portrait mode, which is the most preferred orientation when using phones for speech making or just needing lyrics with manual finger scrolling.

You find the file you double Tapp it and you start your speech then finger scroll to progress through the long speech.Simple.

Damir

peter But as there is no play button, I don't see how anyone could hit play.

Sorry for my poor writing i did not mean play button i meant the bottom unlabelled section of the screen to expose the lyrics screen.

Again i point out this is not very obvious to new users or users that don't use the software regularly.

Damir

I have tried using Lyrics Only Tracks last gig for a slightly different reason then intended but the need of use is exactly the same for musicians, I loaded my speech for the evening and labeled it My Speech, this was great as I could insert it in the appropriate spot in my playlist for easy access , but I came across some issues, when it came to selecting my speech on my iPhone in portrait mode I chose my speech and nothing happened , I double tapped it still nothing, wow now I’m panicking so I hit the grey play button , well blow be away the next file pops up, now I have the wrong text it’s a bloody song not my speech, what the !!! , so I select the speech again and am thinking non logically, ahha I remember if I go to this bottom area somewhere that’s not labeled I might get my lyrics, phewww! The lyrics pop up, well that was stressful and lucky for me I have used ST3 for years and eventually remembered the mind reading function of exposing my text only requirement.
This is a long winded explanation of the problem that exists with Lyrics only mode of operation.

My fix would be.

If NO TIME has been chosen for Lyrics only files GET RID OF THE GREY PAUSE/STOP/PLAY or whatever this useless button is, it’s more of a nuisance then a help to the confused user.
If you double tap on this file it should just open its text file just like a stereo track, yes there is no audio, and yes there is no TIME set, it’s purely a text file that can be finger controlled.

If I do decide I want to set a TIME to this text , then a green play button appears as you double tap to select the lyrics window allowing you to hit play when you choose and it then auto scrolls to time out depending on length chosen and number of lines present, you should be able to speed control this function and the volume fader area becomes a text position lever, as no audio is present.

The loop area in the waveform area becomes the same as normal loop player facility except it’s labeled PAGE EDITOR you create up to 12 pages of text, so when you want to jump around your text just create page loops, name them and similar to normal loops you can jump around your text requirement, this would be perfect for absolute live musicians that require lyrics only , speech makers could easily jump around their speech on the run.

Basically recreate the audio looping idea but designed for text only requirements, so musicians needing lyrics only have a much easier and more powerful way of selecting text, using finger or foot control.

I know this is a lot to take in but it actually is very simple logical and good use of something we already have with stereo backing tracks
So why not apply it to Lyrics Only tracks.

If you have chosen a lyrics only track with or without TIME setting a Xfade button should CUE UP NEXT file chosen ready for start command.
The 12 PAGE (LOOP) SELECT BUTTONS, allows you to jump around the 12 pages either directly using your finger on the waveform page buttons , there is no need for permanent loop as there’s no audio so it purely jumps around the text only.

Anyway ist something I feel I could use in a fully live band requiring Lyrics only.

At the moment it’s ok but not user friendly on stage for number of reasons mentioned,

Guys that care, what do you think, any better suggestions?

I am planing starting up a live band again and would love to continue using ST3 for lyrics on iPhones.

Cheers Damir

backroadrider

I'm a brand new user and I too got caught by this with my many PDF Lyrics only song files. Would love to see the entire screen bottom disappear for PDF Lyrics Only songs - as volume control and skip button not needed - and more of screen available for PDF.

Damir

backroadrider I feel your pain , for numerous reasons I just use stereo files only, no PDFs and no lyrics only , as it is not user friendly and time consuming for no great benefit, stereo files can virtually do everything ,actually more than the others because i can use loops to program the different text parts of a song and quickly get to any part of a song text i need , you cant do that with text only or pdf.
If I need lyrics only I still load a song file to give me time and I reduce volume to zero, this then gives me lyrics only capability without the grey button it basically acts like a stereo file but it’s a text only song , you can colour it to distinguish it and it’s simple to use , pdf , well that’s another thing I am staying away from as it’s too non logical, but if it works for you that’s great.
Good luck